What’s the Average Salary With a Masters in Biotechnology?

Biotechnology marries cutting-edge technology with biology to get information on all things organic in substance. It is a vast field and a masters in biotechnology can see you working as an aquatic biologist, biochemist, biophysicist, physiologist, botanist, zoologist, agriculture scientist, and more. A master’s degree curriculum focuses on sub-specializations and therefore your job type and average salary will depend to a large extent on the subject you major in.

A master’s degree also opens up the path for a Ph.D. degree which is required if you wish to pursue independent research. Although the field is a selective one the job prospects for master’s degree holders in this field are good as the biotech R&D sector is expected to grow and in most cases, a master’s degree is the minimum qualification to possess. Also, master’s graduates will continue to find work in non-research fields of work such as marketing, publishing, and research marketing. The pharmaceutical sector is a major employer of master’s graduates in biotechnology. Biochemists and biophysicists in the pharmaceutical sector can expect to earn an average $42.6 an hour.

If we compare salaries by job type we find that research scientists in biotechnology earn around $64K. But this has to be viewed in conjunction with a comparison of average salaries in terms of experience. It takes a master’s graduate in 5-9 years to reach the $64K mark. Beginners draw around $31K. The salary increases with experience are quite impressive as compared to other fields. Other things being equal, private firms are the best paymasters while colleges and universities figure pretty low on the list. However; colleges can be the best place for biotechnologists to do their research in peace and also study simultaneously for their doctorate.

Biotechnology is a high-tech field and the best cities for such work are those with an infrastructure for research and application of biotechnology.